Utah Jazz star rookie Donovan Mitchell has taken the NBA by storm. But the incredible season he’s had, the postseason success and his emergence as a top Rookie of the Year candidate nearly didn’t happen.

Because Mitchell almost opted not to go pro.

Actually, he was pretty much set on the fact that he wasn’t going to keep his name in the 2017 NBA Draft. If you don’t believe it, look no further than comments he made back in December, to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.

“When I left school, my room was still clean, full of stuff,” Mitchell said. “I never packed. I was coming back for a third year. In my head, 100 percent, coming back.”

But a group of people, headlined by Houston Rockets guard Chris Paul and Oklahoma City Thunder forward Paul George, convinced him to keep his name in the draft after working out with him at the Creative Artists Agency pre-draft camp.

As MacMahon quoted back then, both NBA stars raved about Mitchell, with George stating he “knew he was going to blossom.” When Paul was asked to talk about just how high the ceiling is for the Jazz star, he didn’t flinch.

“He controls it,” Paul says. “He’s that good.”

And here we are, with Mitchell helping to fuel Utah past George and the Thunder in the first round and now going head-to-head with Paul and the Rockets in the second round of the playoffs.

It seems like forever ago that the Jazz traded Trey Lyles and the No. 24 pick to the Denver Nuggets for the No. 13 selection in order to land Mitchell. But after averaging 20.5 points per game in the regular season, his scoring tear has continued on into the postseason.

Mitchell was a nightmare for the Thunder in round one, scoring over 22 points in each game and topping 27 on four occasions. While the Rockets were able to keep Mitchell from going off (21 points on 9-of-22 shooting), it’s still a safe bet that George and Paul persuading Mitchell to remain in the draft doesn’t exactly have fans of their respective teams thrilled right now.

It’s a great story, though, and regardless of who your team is, watching Mitchell play throughout his rookie season has been a lot of fun.

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